Go party elsewhere

The following letter was sent to the Barrie Examiner.

We at AWARE Simcoe feel compelled to defend the Midhurst Ratepayers’ Association from the unjust accusations in the letter from Cheryl Shindruk of Geranium Corporation and the Midhurst Landowners Group.

First, the idea of characterizing the MRA as “very, very late to the party” is ridiculous. The party is being held in their home. The only problem is that they didn’t get the invitation. Yes, there were open houses and public meetings, the key ones held in August and September of 2008, when residents were away or busy with back to school concerns, poorly advertised because Springwater Township had withdrawn its custom from the Springwater News. The township adopted the Midhurst Secondary Plan in November, 2008, but was advised by Simcoe County’s planning department in December that it could not be approved because it violated provincial legislation to control sprawl (as it clearly does to this day).

And then nothing happened. One can hardly blame Midhurst residents for not being involved while the project went into abeyance.

It is worth noting that no politician, particularly Springwater Mayor Linda Collins, bothered to inform the public during the 2010 election campaign of the proposed seismic change to the character of our rural township that she now feels she has no choice but to support. Had the issue been raised then, up front and honestly, Shindruk might have more of a case regarding the MRA’s absence from the party.

Because all of a sudden, a year after the 2010 election, with no public notice, county council approved the MSP on a recommendation from the planning department, which had completely reversed its position. Collins spoke in support. There was no debate. Only after a 20-day appeal period expired did the township alert the public and, in November, 2011, hold its first information meeting since 2008. For residents, especially those who came to Midhurst post-2008, this was the first they knew that the discredited MSP had risen from the grave and was set to engulf their village.

Shindruk accuses the MRA of conducting a false and self-interested NIMBY crusade. Let’s bury that stupid NIMBY term. We are losing farmland, wetlands and wilderness at a suicidal pace because people don’t realize that they need to take responsibility for what is happening in their collective backyard. But that is changing and more and more residents across the continent are banding together to protect Life In My Back Yard (LIMBY).

How improbable that Shindruk can assure us that all wetlands and significant environmental features in the Nottawasaga Valley watershed will be protected. How does she know this? Not through the environmental assessment that’s being carried out because that is limited to a stretch of the Willow Creek, and does not look at the impact of siltation and changes in water temperature and chemistry on the Minesing Wetlands (recognized as internationally significant) and the Nottawasaga River (one of Ontario’s best cold-water fisheries, spawning grounds for most of the sturgeon in Lake Huron).  The MRA, quite rightly, has spoken out against the ludicrously narrow scope of the environmental assessment.

“Unelected, self-appointed and self-interested.” No, we’re not talking about the developers hoping to profit from paving over farmland and playing fast and loose with our aquifers, watershed and agricultural community. Shindruk uses these words to describe the MRA – a band of selfless volunteers with wide community support who have stepped up to defend themselves because their council won’t do the job.

The Shindruk letter waxes at length on the need for growth. We at AWARE Simcoe offer a different economic vision, based on stability and sustainability. Growth is the problem that threatens to engulf our planet – not the solution.

Farmland is going up in price because it is increasingly scarce. Springwater has young farmers looking for land. Let the developers sell their options at a healthy profit and write off the cost of the studies carried out so far (still not complete). Let them leave us in peace, a quiet rural community on exceptionally fertile ground.

Go party elsewhere.

Kate Harries

Vicechair, AWARE Simcoe